Sharjah
I would like to draw attention about the issues caused by the disposal of cigarette butts in undesignated spaces. I have found many cigarette butts lying on the ground, especially at beaches, parks, in parking lots, on pavements and other public areas.
Cigarette butts as litter are a serious problem considering the impact they can have on public health and safety, primarily as non-biodegradable and pollution-causing waste, and as a fire hazard.
I have noticed many people after smoking just throw these cigarette butts on the ground and not bothering to dispose them properly. These filters are non-biodegradable, as stated by the US-based The Cigarette Butt Pollution Project, an advocacy and research focused nonprofit organisation. And while the sun rays will break them up, the toxic material of these butts never disappears.
Most of these might finally end up in various water bodies such as lakes and rivers and then marine life may consider it to be food and eat them, resulting in their death. Thus it kills various species and destroys the ecological balance.
The remaining butts left on the ground will approximately take 25-26 years to decompose, according to a report by the US-based Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. During dry seasons cigarette butts can even cause major fires, which is harmful for the environment. These affect the environment the most, resulting in air, water and land pollution.
I am a member of a student organisation that has spoken up about anti-smoking in various places and discussed its effects on the environment and people’s health. We have distributed flyers to people and also organised a pledge taking ceremony.
I strongly believe that the only way to stop harming the environment is to stop buying these products and using them. Quitting smoking is the best preventive medicine.
I hope that the authorities take measures for the proper disposal of cigarette butts and ban smoking, especially in public areas.
— The reader is a student based in Sharjah.
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FACTBOX:
According to a Gulf News report published on March 24, motorists and beach-goers who throw their cigarette butts on roads and public beaches will be slapped with a Dh500 fine. The fine will double, then triple for each repeat offence for litterbugs.
This also applies to public parks and even busy commercial areas around the UAE.
The Dubai Municipality alone is said to spend over Dh50 million annually on the maintenance of public parks, according to a Gulf News report published in November 2013. The municipality has placed ashtrays and waste bins every 50 to 100 metres in the busy central business district areas of Bur Dubai and Deira. The Dubai Municipality started implementing its ban on smoking in public areas in 2007.
Additionally, motorists who smoke in a car with a child inside will be fined Dh500, as stated in the anti-tobacco federal law. Smoking is also regulated in shopping malls, restaurants and amusement centres.
